20 Truths
by lankree
Summary: A series of 20 facts about Konoha's Shinobi.
1. Team Gai

20 Truths: Team Gai

One. Neji knew that Tenten was the best kunoichi of their graduating class before he knew anything about her. He hadn't even met her until the day of their graduation. He was retrieving his forehead protector when he overhead Tenten's conversation with a group of female ninja. They were discussing how they were going to wear their forehead protectors and when asked how Tenten was going to wear hers she responded "Where it belongs, on my forehead".

Two. To the popular estimate of the members of her team, had Tenten fought any other kunoichi but that Temari at the preliminary battle at the Chuunin exam, she would have won. Neji estimated there were more than a few of the male fighters that Tenten would have emasculated with her superior talent. Once, just once, Neji hinted that Lee was one of them.

Three. Neji has to keep his hair tied back the way he does for two reasons: Firstly to serve as a physical reminder of his dear father's memory, secondly to keep people from stroking it obsessively… and not just Tenten, Lee and Gai, but even random strangers. His loose hair during his first few weeks at the Academy made his attempt at **not** making any friends extremely difficult.

Four. Lee honestly doesn't know Tenten's last name. He is the only person on his team that doesn't. However, even Neji doesn't know that their kunoichi's real first name isn't Tenten.

Five. Meikou Tokushukou is one fifth of the Amazing Meikou sisters, daughters of Meikou Kouchikawa, Konoha's top weaponsmith. Tenten was simply a nickname her father assigned to her for when he worked with anyone outside of their tiny clan.

Six. Neji would have married Tenten, he really would have, if his clan didn't assign him a bride when he was twenty one. He had been willing to fight it, but Tenten hadn't been willing to let him. She loved Neji, she truly did, but loved Inuzuka Kiba just a bit more.

Seven. Neji was the Jounin trainer for Rock Nagao and found that the wide eyed Taijutsu ninja was just as spirited, and hopelessly annoying, as his father. Hyuuga Hikari and her twin sister, Hyuuga Hikaru, honestly didn't understand how their father tolerated Lee-sensei's passion. Neither did Inuzuka Tenosuke. It usually took all of them, and sometimes the new Ino-Shika-Chou formation to persuade their sensei that running 500 laps around Konoha wasn't the only was to fan the fire of their youth.

Eight. Every member on Team Gai did something that got on Tenten's nerves: Neji snored (loudly), Lee sang (horribly), and Gai-sensei never once called her the Genius of Tobidougu Kuchiyose no Jutsu (unjustly).

Nine. It surprised everyone when Orochimaru made a second attack on Konoha and sent Yakushi Kabuto to retrieve Neji. Kabuto, one to talk and leave no secrets with those younger than him, told Neji in no uncertain terms that Neji would be his next container and the reason was simple: Hyuuga Neji was half Uchiha. His mother, Sango, was from the Uchiha Clan and had died long before the Uchiha genocide, and Uchiha Itachi hadn't even known that Neji existed.

Ten. Lee, Gai, Tenten and Neji would spend the rest of their lives defending and training Hyuuga Hikaru, the first of Neji's children to display the descendent Sharingan ability.

Eleven. Hikaru was the reason why Uchiha Sasuke returned to Konoha. He made it clear that his entire purpose in Konoha was to protect Hikaru and Hikari from Itachi, who would kill them if he found out about them.

Twelve. Itachi did find out and when he went to retrieve his Jinchuuriki, he made a specific detour to claim the Hyuuga Twins. He was met by the thieving hands of Orochimaru and the two clashed on the grounds of the Hyuuga compound. When they locked their bodies together, Uchiha Sasuke pierced them both on his Kusangi sword while all the other weapons of Konoha: Juuken, Renge, Tobidougu Kuchiyose no Jutsu, Rasengan, and the will of fire that spread through Hatake Kakashi, Jiraiya and the Godaime, landed the destroying blows. Though Neji knew that Kakashi, Jiraiya, Tsunade-sama, and that Naruto were acting for the sake of Konoha, he knew that Lee and Tenten were protecting his daughters, the way he would protect their sons.

Thirteen. Once when they were seventeen, Tenten and Lee had forced Neji to use his "rampant sexiness" to get them out of trouble with the Godaime. Neji never held the incident against them, but he secretly never forgave him.

Fourteen. Tenten is, and has always been, secretly jealous of how cool a name Rock Lee has.

Fifteen. So has Neji, but he's better at hiding it. When Lee found out Tenten thought his name was cool, he started sending her messages by paper just so he could write his name out. Neji was not envious of Tenten at all.

Sixteen. Tenten's favorite word was Heal. Or Heel depending on who was listening. She used both terms quite often. The former for when dealing with her teammates, the latter when dealing with her husband, son, and their ninken.

Seventeen. Lee's daughter, Renge, admitted to her sensei that she wanted to be a kunoichi greater than her ka-san, Sakura, and even greater than her Jounin trainer, Tenten. Tenten would give the girl all that she had, to make sure that while the genjutsu genin surpassed her ka-san, passing her trainer would be impossible. Tenten would learn that when it came to the daughter of Rock Lee, nothing is impossible.

Eighteen. The reason why Neji had six children – Hikari, Hikaru, Yuukan, Naoto, Seirou and Mai – was firstly, because his wife let him, and second because the Rokudaime made it so that his children wore their forehead protectors on their foreheads because they wanted to, not to cover a cursed seal.

Nineteen. Tenten had only one son because she honestly didn't think she could handle having any more dogs in her house. Kiba's Akamaru was huge and Tenosuke's kasshoku yontsui ninken (Brown Set of Four Ninja Dogs) insisted on using her Tobidougu scrolls for chew toys. Lee had two children – Renge and Nagao – but wanted seven (even as a Jounin he hated losing to Neji). Sakura stopped him solidly from winning that battle.

Twenty. Team Gai was on record as a perfect team: Neji the Chakra, Tenten the Weapons, and Lee the Will of Fire – all three together making the elements of a true shinobi.


	2. Neji and Ino

Twenty Truths: Yamanaka Ino and Hyuuga Neji

One. To prove to her mother that she was mature enough to run the store unattended, the fourteen year old Chuunin decided to hold flower arranging classes every Sunday and Friday afternoon for anyone who wished to attend.

Two. Ino's Ikebana lessons were a hit (as she expected). What she didn't anticipate was that her best student wasn't Haruno Sakura, Chouji, or even Hinata. It was the silently passionate Hyuuga Neji.

Three. Neji had only intended to stay for one of the Yamanka's lessons, so he could make an appropriate arrangement as an apology for 'forgetting' Tenten's Sweet Sixteen birthday party.

Four. The truth was, Neji didn't 'forget' to attend the party. He chose to skip it so he could continue his intense meditation. He chose to tell Tenten that he forgot, because he knew telling her the truth would get him killed.

Five. The only reason why Neji continued to attend Ino's lessons was because Ino explicitly asked him to stay, because his first arrangement had been 'breathtakingly beautiful' (Ino's words, not his. Neji never used such flowery language).

Six. Chouji and Lee had once considered teasing Neji about Ino's favoritism, but then remembered that this was Hyuuga Neji they were talking about and decided they just weren't that stupid.

Seven. Ino found out from her mother that Neji's mother, Hyuuga Sango, used to work with her at the Ikebana when Ino was just a baby. Her mother insisted that that was why Hyuuga Neji was so good at arranging flowers.

Eight. Ino believed that Neji had talent. You can't inherit the Way of the Flower.

Nine. Hyuuga Neji had to admit that Yamanaka Ino was attractive (after losing a game of Shogi to Shikamaru). He had thought so since they had fought against each other in their second appearance at the Chuunin exam. They had fought each other in the opening round where Ino put a special emphasis on the fight. She made it a hair vs. hair battle: whoever won got to cut the other's hair.

Ten. It was a stupid bet to make, Ino decided, after Neji defeated her. Somehow she wasn't surprised when Hyuuga Neji decided not to claim his prize. It did surprise her when Neji made her admit he had better hair than her instead.

Eleven. Ino was easily distracted by a pretty face (which she attributed to her losing to Neji in the first place). It was also why she couldn't commit to dating Sai, it seemed no matter where they went together that somehow Hyuuga Neji was there and he always managed to take her attention.

Twelve. Strangely enough, whenever she was in Hyuuga Neji's company, Ino couldn't see anyone else.

Thirteen. Their first date was the result of a plot by Sakura, Naruto and Lee, to satisfy several desires for revenge directed at the long haired ninjas. The sannin hadn't expected Ino and Neji to hit it off so well.

Fourteen. Sakura would latter force Ino, after Neji and Ino had been dating for nearly a year, to not only give her the details of a relationship with number one cool headed guy, Hyuuga Neji, but also tell her exactly what Neji's hair care regimen consisted of.

Fifteen. One Haruno Sakura would feel thoroughly cheated when she found out that Neji used Floral Green as well. Of course this was a lie, for not even Ino had ever seen the labels of Neji's hair care products or even empty bottles, which lead Ino to believe that Neji was simply a Perfect Hair God.

Sixteen. After four years of dating, Yamanaka Ino refused Hyuuga Neji's marriage proposal. Neji attributed the rejection to Uchiha Sasuke's return to Konoha. In truth, Ino didn't believe she could handle having a child from her body marked with the Hyuuga's Cursed Seal.

Seventeen. Ino would later marry Inuzuka Kiba after Hyuuga Neji married his cousin Aizu. She would realize what a mistake she had made in leaving Neji the first time she saw his twin daughters: Hikari and Hikaru, whose bodies were free of any curses thanks to the Rokudaime. Ino had never seen a man happier than Neji when he walked through the village with his beautiful children. Kiba wasn't even as happy when Ino gave birth to Inokawa.

Eighteen. Ino would tell Neji that she made a mistake when Neji became a widower after the birth of his son: Naoto.

Nineteen. Neji decided it was a mistake they both would have to live with. He would raise his son and daughters alone regardless if Ino was willing to leave Kiba and allow Neji to help raise Inokawa as his own.

Twenty. Ino stayed married to Kiba and had another litter with him. Neji raised his children wonderfully, each of them surprisingly sensitive to the Way of the Flower. Inokawa, Hikari and Hikaru were eventually placed into the same genin squad and the genin sannin didn't understand the uneasiness it forced upon their parents. Hikari and Hikaru's Father and Inokawa's mother usually only said a single phrase to each other: Nice Hair.


	3. InoShikaChou

Twenty Truths: Team Asuma

One. Nara Shikamaru really is as lazy as people say he is. Of course, with his ridiculous intelligence, such a trait was forgiven.

Two. Because it was for the benefit of his jutsu, Chouji's gluttony was excused as well.

Three. No one forgave Ino's loudmouth. It never helped anything except to get her team in gear.

Four. The Ino-Shika-Chou Second Squad Rendan could only be beaten by luck or circumstances beyond the trio's immediate control. They were the embodiment of Kakashi's ideal of teamwork.

Five. Ino never let her team fall behind. They always stood together, even if on their knees. Ino planned for them to either grow old together or die young together.

Six. Ino-Shika-Chou was more than just a winning hand to her: they were everything.

Seven. Though Chouji and Shikamaru were closer to each other than Ino was to either of them, they never let her feel left out.

Eight. Chouji never felt, even once, that his teammates didn't believe in him. His father told him he'd make great friends and he had no greater friends than Shikamaru and Ino.

Nine. It was Ino who discovered that their Ino-Shika-Chou Rendan was the second generation after retrieving her father from a bar at her mother's request. She didn't figure it out really until Shikamaru and Chouji showed up as well.

Ten. Each member of Asuma's team had a taboo word. Chouji's was fat-ass. Ino's was ugly. Shikamaru's was unfaithful.

Eleven. Unlike Ino and Chouji, Shikamaru didn't think there was anything wrong with dating more than one person at the same time, as long as they are different sexes.

Twelve. It was how he justified his simultaneous relationships with Temari and Hyuuga Neji.

Thirteen. Chouji would be the first in his squad to marry. He married a chuunin from an older graduating class whose family ran a local outdoor restaurant.

Fourteen. He gave his teammates free meals, but wasn't allowed to extend that invitation to his immediate family: his in-laws only needed to learn that lesson once.

Fifteen. Shikamaru was the godfather of Ino's first born son with Inuzuka Kiba and witnessed first hand the ordeal that came with naming the boy. Ino wanted her name in her son's name and Kiba wanted his child named after an animal's body part.

Sixteen. Shikamaru had tried to suggest naming the kid Inogan, but neither Chuunin was keen on having their kid named 'pig eye'.

Seventeen. Shikamaru's daughter with Temari was Shikachi. His son was **Getsuei. The children were both blessed with their father's intellect and their mother's pension for violence and cheekiness. **

**Eighteen. Nara Shikachi and Nara Gestuei never heard themselves referred to as troublesome. **

Nineteen. Ino-Shika-Chou was the first team of that famous rookie nine squad to have all its members become Jounin.

Twenty. Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Chouji had a saying that they shared between them from the time of Genin to retirement: We are Konoha's Legacy. Ino-Shika-Chou. We're never weak when we stand together.


	4. Hyuuga Clan

Twenty Truths: Hyuuga Clan

One. The ancestors of the Hyuuga Clan believed that people were born for a reason: leading or serving.

Two. Hyuuga Kuran, the father of Hiashi and Hizashi, believed fully that those who were strong came first. If Hizashi were the stronger brother, he would have been born in Hiashi's place.

Three. Kuran applied the curse seal to his second son with no sorrow or regret. Hizashi's eyes had turned from bright to bitter the moment the last seal in a string of thirty had been activated. Hizashi and, later, Neji, would curse their ancestors for making the last seal in that cursed technique the Bird Seal.

Four. As children, Hiashi had the tendency to brood, so most considered Hizashi to be the 'cute' one. Hizashi suspected that Hiashi brooded solely for the purpose of preventing anyone from calling him cute.

Five. As men, Hizashi developed his brother's brooding. Both of them were sensible, strong and easy on the eye. The real difference between the two was disposition. Hiashi benefited from Fate. Hizashi suffered it.

Six. Hyuuga men were generally hunter-nin. Hyuuga women were generally medical ninja. Kuran's sons were no exception. Neither were Innen's daughters.

Seven. Hinata's mother, Aizu died when Hinata was two. Hinata took more after her mother than Hiashi would have liked. Aizu was fragile and hadn't been the daughter of Hyuuga Innen that Hiashi wanted to marry.

Eight. Marrying Hyuuga Sango was the only advantage Hizashi ever had over his older brother. With his wife in his arms, and the beautiful son they had created, Hizashi was able to live everyday in the Hyuuga Fate of Hatred with calm and peace.

Nine. When Hizashi died, he left both of them behind… but not for very long…

Ten. Hyuuga Hanabi and Hyuuga Neji were more closely related to each other than Neji and Hinata were. After Hizashi's death, their grandfathers, Hyuuga Kuran and Hyuuga Innen, forced Neji's mother, Sango, to become Hiashi's replacement wife.

Eleven. Hyuuga Sango died shortly after the birth of her daughter. Had the child been Hizashi's, she would have named the girl Akiri. She named the girl Hanabi and was sad in her last moments of life… sad she was unable to see her son from the husband she loved before she slipped away. Neji knew of his relatedness to Hanabi, but made no effort to expose Hanabi to that truth. If ever asked, Neji would state that he was an only child.

Twelve. When Hinata developed a talent that Hizashi recognized, Neji was placed in charge of Hanabi's training. He hated it when Hanabi called him Neji nii-san. Hanabi thought it was because her sister called him that.

Thirteen. As it was, Hyuuga Hanabi would be the first born to the Branch house that would live her life as a Main house member, because the head of the Main house wanted it so. It was far too late for Neji, but he would not begrudge that girl a chance. He could only hope that the Rokudaime kept the word he made all those years ago, that Neji's children would never know what it meant to be caged.

Fourteen. Hyuuga was the most inbred line in Konoha's arsenal of kekkei genkai. However there were strict rules on who could marry who. Main house women could marry Branch house men and remain Main house, but their children would become Branch. Branch house women could only have Branch house children and so Main house men never bothered with them. Branch house men could marry outside the clan, but Hinata-sama was the only woman who could marry outside of the clan and only for the advancement of her station.

Fifteen. Because of Hinata's rank, the only person she could marry outside her clan would be Hokage.

Sixteen. When Hinata married the Rokudaime, Hanabi became the official successor of the Hyuuga clan. Hinata and Neji both served as her advisors.

Seventeen. It was Hinata's gentle insistence that made the Rokudaime keep his promise to Neji. When Neji's wife gave birth to his daughters Hikaru and Hikari, Neji wept. For the rest of their lives, the only thing that would cover their brows' were forehead-protectors. From this joy, he would later name his sons Naoto and Hiura.

Eighteen. Hinata and Naruto's daughter, Uzumaki Hogosha, had her mother's talent and her father's will of father. Hanabi's son, Hyuuga Iyasu, would devise a system to protect the Byakugan that would keep all members of their clan equal.

Nineteen. There would be no sacrifice between Hogosha, Iyasu, Naoto, Hiura, Hikaru or Hikari, nor the generation of their clan who lived beneath the stars of the Hyuuga clan.

Twenty. Fate could not be forgotten – it would forever live on Neji's forehead and the forehead of his wife and many of their clansmen. But those five, those children from Hanabi, Neji and Hinata, would know what it meant to fly.

End

Author's Notes:

Hikaru and Hikari are two ways of describing light. – In every future fanfic I write these are the names of Neji's daughters. Naoto is also the name I use for Neji's son.

Iyasu means heal.

Hogosha means protector – This is a name that makes sense for Naruto to name his daughter. I always call Naruto's daughter with Hinata Hogosha.

Kuran means clan

Innen means fate


	5. Hyuuga Neji

Twenty Truths: Hyuuga Neji

One. Contrary to popular belief, no one has ever mistaken Hyuuga Neji for a girl. Even with telltale Hyuuga long hair and delicate features, most people thought that he was certainly beautiful, but certainly male.

Two. Hyuuga Neji snored, horribly, and though he claimed that everyone in his clan snored, it simply wasn't the case.

Three. Like all members of the Hyuuga Clan, exposure to the chakra paper proved that he had an affinity for water. Unlike the rest of the Hyuuga clan, he put good use to it: creating a massive water jutsu without a water source as his entrance test for ANBU.

Four. Neji's chichiue had been a hunter-nin. His haha was a med-nin. It still surprised everyone when Neji became both.

Five. When treating the nineteen year old ANBU for a shoulder wound, Shizune was the first to discover a tattoo that Neji wore on his back. She couldn't help but trace her fingers along Neji's golden bird wings.

Six. That night, Neji lost his virginity to Shizune, his medical-ninjutsu retainer.

Seven. On nights when it was cold, Neji would feel pain in his stomach where that last arrow had pierced him all those years ago.

Eight. When he woke up that day after nearly losing his life, he nearly cried for the first time in eight years when he saw Tenten sleeping in a chair beside his bed, even in her sleep, desperately clinching his hand.

Nine. Neji never hated himself for what he did to Hinata, even after losing to Naruto. He couldn't find it within himself to hate his past mistakes. But he did make efforts to make amends.

Ten. He also decided to try to make amends with Lee, but found instead that he drifted further from his teammate who was content to follow in the footsteps of another, while Neji was determined to forge a bright new path.

Eleven. It was Tenten that changed the dynamics of Team Gai. She forcibly reminded Gai that he had three students and like it or not, one of them was a prodigy.

Twelve. Tenten has always been Neji's rock, since the very day they met. They were both at the Stone at the same time, mourning their lost parents. Tenten had asked Neji not to cry because it meant he was forgetting the strength of the person he lost. Neji swore not to cry again for sadness and Tenten swore that someway, somehow, this boy would have happiness.

Thirteen. Rumors that Hyuuga Neji was going to propose to Tenten when they were twenty three were completely unfounded. The leader of the Branch House never had romantic intentions for his best friend. He could do nothing but quietly discourage Tenten developing any such intentions towards him.

Fourteen. Hyuuga Neji, contrary to Village Legends, doesn't have a unique and superior hair care regimen that he keeps secret under pain of death. The amazing condition of his signature locks are just another aspect of his being a prodigy.

Fifteen. Hyuuga Neji was the first of the gifted Konoha Twelve to become ANBU. Ino was the second. While Ino was a Jounin, Neji had been her senpai. He gave Ino her code name "Innenwa" and she gave him a love he could not understand.

Sixteen. Yamanaka Ino made herself available to be his mistress after Neji's miai was arranged and settled. His cousin Anzu was happy to have him, but Neji knew she wouldn't feel the same in his arms as Ino did.

Seventeen. Neji never took Ino to his bed after his wedding day. He would miss that feeling of contentment until his wife announced she was with child. The feeling he received from that was much more than contentment.

Eighteen. Hikaru and Hikari were born minutes apart on the Fifth of January, the greatest day of his life. Hikaru and Hikari had screamed with all their strength until their father held them each in one arm and looked down to them with the same eyes that looked up at him.

Nineteen. The only person surprised by the talent of Hikaru and Hikari was Neji himself. He had hoped that they would be gifted, but those two together showed more talent at five than Neji had until he was sixteen.

Twenty. Neji watched his daughters train, and eventually his sons, Naoto and Hiaru, as well, amazed by how young children so small could be so full of life, promise and wonder. He had lost such feelings when he was four years old, but because the Rokudaime kept his word, his children would never lose that feeling.

End.

A/N: Innenwa means Fated Circle which is going to be a future fanfic revolving around Ino and Neji.


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